11:00am Monday 15th March 2010
By Ian Mason
A 60-year-old rugby club is hoping to share its home with more of the community as it looks to continue growing.
Grasshoppers RFC, in MacFarlane Lane, Osterley, is inviting borough businesses and residents to hire out its grounds and facilities when the rugby season ends in May.
The not-for-profit organisation then plans to use cash collected over the summer months to make the club bigger and better for all to enjoy.
Chairman Juan Murray said: “Grasshoppers RFC is trying to create a sports hub for the community. We work with special-needs children and run programmes to get kids off the streets by showing them the benefits and discipline required for playing rugby.
“Our members include men and women of all ages and we want to continue to build on our successes. To do this we need readers’ help.
“We want to raise funds to reinvest in our sports club. We are a not-for-profit organisation and any profit we make is reinvested in our facilities. For example, we have just spent £60,000 refurbishing the toilets, changing areas and adding more floodlighting to the ground.
“Our facilities are open to the general public and can include the use of the sports pitches for team games and the clubhouse for seminars. If readers get in touch and tell us about their needs, we’ll do our best to fulfil them.”
Mr Murray said the grounds would make an ideal location for anything from sports-based birthday parties to summer barbecues and company team-building events.
He described the club as an asset waiting to be used, adding that weekends from May through to August were often available for booking.
The club, which has been in Osterley since 1987, is currently home to minis (six to 12 years old), to seniors’ men’s rugby teams and girls’ tag rugby, as well as housing Grasshoppers Netball Club, Greenwood Osterley Archers and West London Sharks Rugby League.
For more information about its facilities, or to sponsor any of the sections, call clubhouse manager, Glyn Bowen, on 020 8568 0010 or visit grasshoppersrfc.com and fill in the contact form.
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